Photoshop Tutorial: How to Create Glamor Photos

In this tutorial, you will learn how to give your portraits a glamor effect with a few easy steps. This a great tutorial if you want to give wedding photos or just normal portraits a fun, edgy look. In addition, this tutorial is great for beginners and advanced users alike.

So to begin with, you will need to select a photo to work with. You can basically choose any portrait you like. If you have a photo or image of your own, you can use that. If you do not have a photo to work with, but would like to practice with this tutorial, you can always go to a free stock image site, such as www.sxc.hu. The photos are free and are of extremely great quality.

Step 1) Once you have your image you want to work with, open it up as its own canvas in Adobe Photoshop. Always make sure that you have the original saved File> Save. Also, make sure that the image is completely flat. Go to Layer> Flatten. You can also fix the contrast and color quickly by going to Image> Adjustments> Auto Contrast. This will fix any errors in color or contrast that the photo or image might have.

Step 2) Next, you will now need to duplicate the layer of the image by going to Layer> Duplicate Layer from the horizontal menu bar at the top of the screen. The hotkey for this step is F7 on your keyboard. Once the layer is duplicated, make sure that this layer is on top. You can check this on the free-floating layer menu, usually located on the bottom right hand side of the Photoshop screen. In addition, make sure the layer selected is shown by the Hightlight blue color.

Step 3) Then you will need to add a Gaussian Blur to the selected top layer. You can do this by going to Select Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur. This is also located on the top horizontal menu bar. After you do this, a preview menu will show up. All you need to do is set the radius to 15 pixels so give it a soft look.

Step 4) Again, making sure the top layer is still selected, reduce the opacity of the layer to 60%. You can always try different levels, as they will each give your photo a different look. Use your best judgment when you do this.

Step 5) This step is not necessary, but I still like to add it in. Desaturate the top layer by going to Image> Adjustments> Desaturate. This will give it a bit of a darker, glamorous glow. But as I stated before, you can always skip this step if you are satisfied with the outcome of the previous step (Step 4).

Then you are done and you have a new, fun, edgy glamor photo; perfect for printing and framing, or even posting online.

Additional tips: You can add a classic frame to your photo by going to Image> Canvas Size, check the relative box, and then choose how large of a frame you want. This is great if you are going to print out your new glamor photo.